'Why did he have to survive?' 

Kalis was very unhappy to say the least, at no point since getting to the clearing had anyone stopped for even a second to listen to what she had to say, not only that but of the half dozen people to make it off of the 'Swift Defense' one of them turned out to be a certain despicable lard ass Captain. 

Said Captain was currently stuffing his face with some form of overly oily poultry, not caring about his appearance and the grease running down his chin. Of the survivors currently in the galley of the 'Huntsmans arrow' Kalis recognized 2 from bridge of the 'Swift Defense', 2 from the 'Swift Heat' being Captain Gene and his navigation officer lieutenant Chaple, and 2 enlisted men from the crew of the 'Swift Defense'. She was amazed to learn that the other survivors had gone without food for the majority of the week they were wrecked on planet. She once again felt thankful for able companionship during the ordeal as she didn't have to go without.

"I can't believe you dragged that filthy pirate out with you Commander! That is beneath an officer of the republic. That's below an enlisted man of the republic! WHAT could you have possibly been thinking?" 

Captain Gene punctuated his dressing down with a foul smelling belch.

'Don't sink to his level girl just keep your cool.'

"I don't know Captain."

"Oh-ho you don't know?"

'Fucking blowhard.'

"No sir. I do not" 

Kalis stared hard at Captain Gene after giving her answer, which infuriated him to no end.

"Why you impertinent little-" 

Before he could finish the big man was cut off by the P.A. system. 

"Lieutenant Commander Savor report to Captain Savor. Lieutenant Commander Savor report to Captain Savor."

'So it begins.' 

Kalis sighed as she stood. 

'Only took her 8 hours too.'

Captain Gene sneered at the young women's back as she left the galley before turning to Lieutenant Chapel. 

"That bitch thinks she's hot shit just because her little sister is some hot shot pirate hunter for the government. Once we get to port I'll show her, just wait and see. My father will fix that whole family hehe." 

Chapel looked at the fat man and sighed, as he too stood to leave he couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"Who pissed in your cereal?" 

"Wha-?"

Kalis stood outside a metal doorway and steadied her nerves before reaching out and pressing the intercom, she always got rattled when she had to speak to her younger sister.

"LT. Commander Savor here to see Captain Savor." 

As the door slid open Kalis couldn't help but to gasp. The Captains quarters on a carrier like the 'Huntsmans Arrow' made living quarters on other warships seem Spartan by comparison. 

A curt "Come in." was issued from inside. upon entering Kalis came to a desk behind which was seated a silver haired woman who appeared to be a few years Kalis' junior.

"Do you know why I have called you here lieutenant commander?" 

The woman who looked to be about 22 with her hair tied in a tight bun, not even allowing a single stray strand to fall near her sparkly hazel eyes.

 "No ma'am."

"I've received orders on what is to be done about this..... incident."

"And what is that ma'am?"

"I am to transport you back to headquarters on Rolinsk where you and captain Gene will be questioned on the failure of your mission to escort the supply convoy to its target. We will arrive in approximately 17 hours."

Kalis couldn't help but to gulp, Rolinsk was the planet on which the republics famously hardcore pirate hunting outfit, the 528th special fleet, had its headquarters and shipyard, the 528th was not known for its kindness towards suspected lawbreakers. Consisting of 13 groups and 24 independent crafts with each of the groups centered around a carrier. the 528th was renowned for tracking down the worst of the worst pirates, smugglers, human traffickers, fugitives, and rebel groups, a large portion of the special fleets renown stems from its tenacity in hunting these scum and their allowances of its members to collect any outstanding bounties on their targets.

"What's to happen to the prisoner, Colton?" 

Captain Savor sighed and pulled one of the silver dollar'esq communication disks out of her desk and passed it across to Kalis, softening her gaze towards her older sister.

"The results of his medical exam and a bit of what i can only assume to be mankind's ancient history, Honestly Kali how did you get tied up in something like this?"

Kalis shook her head and put her thumb on the disk causing the information within to be displayed as a hologram in front of her. What she read shocked her.

After reading through the file she looked up at her sister.

"Can I see him?"

"I should say no but I just can't to you. He's on level D in the brig."

Kalis turned to leave but stopped when the younger Savor called out to her.

"You and I are the only ones who know for now I wiped the memory of the A.I. that ran the test. If higher found out his past they would make a lab rat out of him."

"Thank you Bailey." 

Kalis made her way to the ships brig, the Petty officer on duty behind the desk at the entry jumped up upon her entry dropping a still active com disk on the deck.

Having done away with the formality and concept of coming to attention a thousand years ago, Kalis was a little taken aback by the mans action. 

"Are you ok Petty officer?"

"Yes ma'am."

 "Where is the prisoner from the 'Swift Defense'?"

"Cell 5 ma'am." 

As she passed Kalis looked down at the active comm disk and grimaced seeing the naked old woman in the hologram. 

[I guess everyone has their kink.]

‘If you don't hush I'm going to find some lithium.’

Kalis walked down the hall until she came to the glass wall with 5 painted above it. Unfortunately inside Colton was laying on a cot asleep with his shoulder bandaged up.

'I was hoping to talk to him before we get back but I guess he isn't healed up yet.' 

[If you can get the code to get in we can do some night crawling.]

Kalis watched him for a few moments more frowning before turning and going back to her assigned stateroom to wait until the appointed time and ponder where she can get a prescription without command finding out.

Rolinsk was a shit hole of a planet, an icy wasteland spread out across the entire planet painting it white. From orbit it looked a bit like a huge marble, as the 'Huntsmans Arrow' made her way towards the orbital dock Kalis gazed at the massive planet from one of the monitors. Taking in the twinkling lights of 2 of Rolinsk's 6 major cities, each of which were easily seen from space, Kalis couldn't shake her sense of impending doom.

'The way i see it this is going to go one of two ways; a demotion or getting thrown out.'

With a sigh she left the monitor and started towards the exit as she felt the ship make connection after slipping into its berth within the huge orbital dock.

"Make way!!! Make way!!! Dangerous prisoner here!!! Stand aside!"

Kalis stepped to the side of the corridor after hearing the shouts from behind her. Looking back she saw two armed guards wearing the black and orange of the Caligian Gendarmerie escorting Colton, who had his hands cuffed with bulky manacles as well as a special device to cut off his senses of sight and sound. One of the guards held an electric baton and the other held a kinetic gun. Laser weapons like those used by the rescue team were only issued to elite special squads and the like. The types of modern ranged weaponry at this point can be split up into 2 basic categories. Laser which used lenses and gases to concentrate light to the point of causing damage in the form of extreme heat to whatever they were aimed at, these are still relatively rare to find and can be quite expensive. Kinetic weapons which as the name implies use the kinetic force of an object to cause damage these come in a plethora of forms from small handguns to the massive HVMS on starships they can be propelled by many things however magnets are the most common, unlike Coltons antiquated 1911 none have used gun powder in centuries.

'I can't say I'm envious of him, they are letting me get there on my own accord. Too bad I'm on the next shuttle, I'd like to talk to him.'

—--------

As the trio of prisoner and guards board the shuttle to take them down to the base the guards start to unshackle Colton to chain him to the seat the guard with the electric baton holsters the weapon and starts fishes for the key.

"Hey Jim did you hear about that woman over in Dartuc?"

"No?" 

"So word is that there's a woman in Dartuc who will do ANYTHING you want for 50 credits."

"Sounds like an ordinary prostitute, actually a very cheap one. What's the big deal?"

"Yeah but get this the 50 credits is refunded after.”

"Damn it Frank get your damn mind out of the gutter."

"Hey man don't be like that, pussy is the only thing that keeps me going out here in butt fuck nowhere, we can't all go on a date with Palmella and her 5 sisters every night like your nasty ass."

"Hey fuck you."

"Fuck you."

"Sit his ass down Jim." 

"SiT hIs aSS DOwN jIm."

"And that's why you can't get any you sarcastic cunt."

 While the one armed with the handgun, Jim, starts to push Colton down into his seat forcefully the other unlocks his hand restraints preparing to clasp them to the loop on the seat. When Colton resisted the guard drew his gun back to pistol whip Colton, however before the blow could land Colton lashed out with his now free hand and hooked the guard around the back of the neck. Pulling sharply Colton slings the guard with the gun into the guard with the electric baton knocking them both to the ground, after which he quickly tore off the sensor dampening device. Quickly taking stock of his surroundings Colton finds himself in what looks to be the bay of a troop transport but far more futuristic, above him a hand rail runs the length from the familiar tilted plane of a rear ramp behind him up past the two grounded guards to a pair of steps leading to a cockpit door about 15 feet away, unlike the transportation aircraft Colton was familiar with this one had the same lines of the rear ramp all the way around the bay, the shape vaguely reminded Colton of an old ironclad but turned upside down. Down the center of the vehicle were two rows of seats with a narrow aisle on either side before the sloped walls. 

'How strange its like a Hercules had a deformed lovechild with a civil war boat. Well this is the future so...' 

The guard with the handgun was the first to recover, regaining his feet he took aim at the prisoner.

"HANDS UP MOTHERFUCKER! I WILL SHOOT YOUR ASS!"

Judging the distance Colton jumped and grabbing ahold of the overhead hand rail he launched a kick at the guard landing square in the poor mans middle a sickening CRUNCH can be heard quite clearly as several of his ribs are broken. The guard flies back a few feet from the force of the kick and is left gasping on the floor, unbeknownst to Colton one of these broken ribs had punctured the one of the mans lungs. Colton acts swiftly to pick up the fallen mans weapon and take cover behind a seat as the other guard had by then regained his feet and drew his handgun leaving the Electric baton dangling to his side. Looking at his breathless friend the guard was enraged but as he had never been a stupid man he first tried to reason with the escapee.

"Just give up and come out. I wont shoot you if you come peacably."

"I doubt it. Either you'll shoot me or you'll tag me with that damn cattle prod on your hip. I heard about the 528th from Kalis. Bunch of Wyatt Earp, "dead or alive your coming with me", bounty hunter motherfuckers. Like Hell i'll fall for that horseshit." 

"Have it your way."

After taking a few calming breaths Colton leaned out to the side of the seat he was hiding behind Colton tried to squeeze a round off at the guard but nothing happened. After ducking back and narrowly avoiding a shot that bored a hole in the floor where Colton had been a second before he looked at the weapon in his hands. Noticing a lit up red thumb dent Colton couldn't help but sigh in exasperation.

"Fuck the future and fuck biometrics. ALRIGHT I'M COMING OUT DON'T SHOOT."

"Good choice."

Colton stood up while still holding the mostly useless pistol and turned to look at the guard.

"Good, now drop the weapon and put your hands behind your head."

"No."

Fast as lightning Colton rocketed the virtually useless chunk of metal at the guard hitting him in the face before rushing him. The guard panicked and triggered the weapon in his hands exploding a headrest to the right of the freight train that was the rushing prisoner. 

As he barreled into the guard Colton grabbed the smaller man by the lapels of his shirt and continued forward throwing the Gendarmerie to the ground and landing on top of him knocking the Electric Baton out of its holster sending it sliding away. Now on top of the man Colton drives his elbow into the Guards face over and over again mixing in hammer strikes.

CRUNCH

Breaks his nose.

CRACK

Breaks his jaw and shatters his teeth.

CRUNCH

Breaks his right cheek bone.

CRUNCH

Breaks his right orbital.

A loud crackling is heard and Colton feels a pain like a thousand bee stings on the nape of his neck. All he could manage was a gasp before his muscles seized up and he fell to the floor twitching only to see a boot speeding towards his face.

Kalis stepped off her shuttle outside the headquarters of the auxillery support and training depo in the heart of Rolinsk City. Immediately she felt that something was off as there were emergency personnel and gendarmerie running to and fro.

'I wonder what happened?.' 

[Bet I know.]

Continuing out of the terminal she is pushed to the side by a group of corpsmen carrying a stretcher to a waiting military ambulance. following after them she got a good look at the person on the stretcher.

'MOTHERFUCKER!'

[Knew it.]

On the stretcher was one of the guards who Kalis saw escorting Colton, except his face looked like it was put through a meat grinder with the right side appearing almost concave.

"Corpsman what happened to this man???"

"A prisoner he was escorting tried to escape ma'am, bashed this ones face in real good and nearly killed his partner."

"What happened to the prisoner? Did he escape?"

"No ma'am. The co-pilot of the transport got ahold of one of the guards stun sticks and put a stop to that nonsense."

"Where did they take that prisoner?"

"The hospital, he was beat up pretty good too."

Hearing that, Kalis took off in the direction of the hospital. Running through the fridgid snow that had begun to fall on the base, Kalis began to think about the possible repercussions of all of this and why it was happening. In the end she couldnt blame Colton after all from his perspective he was a captive of a foreign enemy of course his first thoughts are to try to escape. From the survival skills he demonstrated when they crashed Kalis had no doubt in her mind that he would have at least a chance in the frozen tundras of Rolinsk, however first he had to get off this base. Escaping from one of the most guarded bases in the republic seemed highly unlikely now that he had so savagly beaten two guards in a bid for freedom, he would more than likely be assigned a whole team of special Gendarmerie to guard him.

Finally arriving at the hospital Kalis went inside and after finding out which room Colton was in she took an elevator up to the 6th floor. As the doors opened she was greeted with the sight of a Gendarmerie in olive fatigues and body armor watching the door. 

"Sorry ma'am this floor is off limits to everyone but those with express consent of Admiral Fort. I'll have to ask you to leave."

"He's my prisoner please stand aside."

"Can't do that ma'am."

"I'm ordereing you to stand aside..." Looking for a rank Kalis couldnt find any insignia on the mans uniform.

"Lieutenant Commander Savor I do not follow your orders and again, I must request you vacate the premisis before I forcibly remove you."

Furrowing her brow in anger Kalis could only press the ground floor button and glare at the man until the doors shut. Exiting the hospital Kalis went to Admiral Forts office to attend her inquiry. 

Admiral Adam Fort was the CO of the 528th and was known far and wide to be fair even to a fault, so Kalis wasnt terribly worried but her guts still twisted in a tight ball when she entered the office and saw the receptionist sitting behind his desk. 

"Lieutenant Commander Savor here to see Admiral Fort."

"Yes ma'am your appointment has been rescheduled for tomorrow at the hospital on the 6th floor."

"O-oh okay thank you."

after leaving Kalis made her way to the apartment her sister kept for when she was not out on missions. Located on the 3rd floor of a rather drab looking building, the apartment took up all of about 600 sq.ft the interior, however, it was well appointed and tastefully warm with a lot of dark woods. After entering via a keypad on the door Kalis collapsed onto a loveseat and kicked her legs over the side, although it was a fairly cramped position this was the first time she was able to sit and relax since boarding the 'Swift defense' all those weeks ago. this brief moment of respite also gave her an opportunity to think and by extension dread what was to come the next day. Before she realized she had sunken into a dream. 

Kalis was running for her life, behind her she could hear something knocking over small trees as it tore through the jungle after her.

'I've got to get out of here!' 

She felt herself begin to panic and grow frantic. Her face stung from small branches whipping her as she ran and blood dripped down into her eyes from a where a low hanging branch raked her scalp. 

Jerking awake Kalis looked at her comm disk to check the time. 

'.....DAMNIT!' 

Looking at her disheveled uniform she fell asleep in she cringed to think she had 15 minutes before the appointed time. 

'This is going to go great.'

Exiting the apartment Kalis went to the hospital arriving with 5 minutes to spare she took the elevator up to the 6th floor. 

As the doors slid open Kalis once again was stopped by the gendarmerie, but was immediately allowed to pass after she produced an identification card. 

The gendarmerie, whose name was Timma, belonged to a special team directly under Admiral Fort. Timma escorted Kalis to Coltons room where the Admiral was already talking to the time traveler. 

"Ah Lieutenant Commander Savor, your just in time. I was just getting this young man up to speed on what has happened in the past few millennium, or what little we know anyways. Did you know mankind used to only exist on one planet in the sol system?!?!? Incredible how far we've come! The potential advancements we could make in science and history if we found it! I mean we vaguely knew of a "Mother planet" due to ancient digital data bouncing around in space but to actually have it confirmed and a general location is mind boggling."

"Erm.... Yes sir."

Kalis stood stunned looking at the Admiral, a stout man of about 70 with grey hair and bushy eyebrows. He honestly should have retired long ago but a meritorious service record and his desire to continue to lead the 528th has kept him around with no end in the foreseeable future. 

"Sir do.... do you believe him?"

"What reason would he have to lie to me Lieutenant Commander? The evidence is all there, scarred over wounds, missing appendage, and these things he calls tattoos, even his facial features are completely unique in this era. You know as well as anyone else that we have had the medical technology to regrow fingers and heal wounds without a scar for more than a thousand years."

Admiral Fort grimaced and looked at Colton.

"Um the regrowing of appendages has to take place within about a month of the initial damage. Sorry son." 

"No Admiral I understand completely I'm pretty used to it now I don't know what I would do with all 10 fingers. I hope there's no hard feelings about your men on the transport..."

The admiral smiled and shook his head. 

"As long as they're alive my boy."

The Admiral turned to Kalis. 

"Now Commander, as for your failure, I have thoroughly thought over what should be done and I believe I can kill two birds with one stone. You and Captain Gene will be reassigned to the 528th and will both be put in command of heavy cruisers. The good captain will be demoted to commander and you, in light of your bravery, will be promoted to commander. As for that second bird I mentioned, after some thoughts with regards to our era challenged friend here, I will hide his identity and place him aboard your new ship, the 'Silver Lining' with the assumed rank of ensign. I'm fairly confident I still have some strings I can pull higher up. Any questions you two?" 

Kalis shook her head 

"No sir."

Colton looked a touch displeased. 

"What if I don't want to?"

The Admirals face turned dark "you'll be shot out of an airlock naked except for a ball gag and thigh high socks.”